BNP woes and cave questions

[Snagrio]

So I have a big male albino bristlenose that's been a real pain in the neck lately. Constantly digging through the sand to get underneath a large dragon stone. Not only does that make a mess with getting sand everywhere, but there's the danger of the rock shifting at some point and crushing the pleco underneath. Thing is, I know why he's doing it. There's no proper cave or cave-like structures in the tank. Lots of live plants, driftwood pieces and standalone dragon stone, but nothing that's really all that secluding.

What's annoying is that there was a natural rock cave I made by gluing some rocks together, but all the rocks were from the backyard and raised the PH (everything around here is sedimentary in nature) so I removed it. I have a bunch of artificial caves lying around like hollowed out logs and such, but the aim of this aquarium is to be as natural as possible with no fake decor. But I'm definitely going to need to think of something soon due to some apisto cichlids I have in quarantine that are also going to be wanting caves so, any suggestions? One thing I can think of would be coconut shells but I've never had experience with those before.

 

[Sprinkle]

My pleco was doing this as well, he was trying to get under a piece of wood and there were holes everywhere in the tank and I believe you are right.
The key to your issue is to get something like this:

D- shape ceramic breeding hiding fish cave Pleco Catfish Cichlid aquarium décor | eBay

D- shape ceramic breeding, hiding fish cave for Pleco, Catfish, Cichlid. Ceramic cave provides natural shelter, hiding spots, and spawning sites for your fish. aquarium decoration. Rinse the product in cold water for removing dirt before putting it into your aquarium.

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So I think the hollow log would work as well.

 

[Snagrio]

...You know, at this point I think I'm going to just swallow my pride and use one of the fake logs I already have. It looks natural-ish enough and doesn't have fake plants attached to it that would stick out compared to the real ones. Could even try to get something like Java moss growing on it at some point to disguise it further, even plain ol' algae will help.

The real challenge will be finding somewhere to put it though as most of the floor space is taken up already.

 

[Sprinkle]

Just think of it as a real log....you should be fine with the java moss growing on it. Saw some wood with java moss, anubias and java fern growing on it and it looked like from some fantasy forest. Eh got carried away.

you could rearrange things around. But if you decide not to go with the log try maybe one of those pleco caves? I am pretty sure you could find somethin you liked.

 

[fishorama]

You definately need to give him a cave of some kind, he needs 1. I find coconut caves artificial looking, maybe more than fake wood or pleco caves. Real wood &/or real rocks would be my choice, but that's me...You can have plants on or in front of a cave area...or 2 so he can choose. Real wood will also help him find something to graze on. Is this your 125g?

 

[Snagrio]

You definately need to give him a cave of some kind, he needs 1. I find coconut caves artificial looking, maybe more than fake wood or pleco caves. Real wood &/or real rocks would be my choice, but that's me...You can have plants on or in front of a cave area...or 2 so he can choose. Real wood will also help him find something to graze on. Is this your 125g?

It is my 125 yeah. There's actually tons of real driftwood already in it (to the point where it heavily tannins the water and my folks complain that they can barely see anything even though that's kind of the point of a South American-themed setup but whatever). But the problem is there's nothing that makes a real cave. The closest is one piece of driftwood I stood up that has the slightest overhang that he used for a while but it's clearly not enough.

Going to see what I can do tomorrow. The best artificial log hide I have from a realistic standpoint is pretty sizable and should blend in competently, but the problem is, well, it's sizable. Going to be difficult trying to move things around to make space.